Friday, August 07, 2009

Leo is having a sleep deprived EEG test at 8am. We were given instructions to let him sleep from 10pm-2am and them keep him awake until testing time. Clara is sleeping over at Chloé's so we've got the house to ourselves for this great adventure. Here goes...

2:08am - We are UP! Leo just needed a bit of prodding but he woke up with a smile on his face. It is a good start. Now we are eating cereal. We figure we may as well try to confuse our bodies into believing that it is morning.

2:22am - Tap Tap revenge anyone? I love my new ipod touch.

2:36am - Marc is gonna teach Leo how to play Lego Star Wars on the PS2 and then Leo tells me he's gonna teach me how to play later. He's been very excited about this since we first talked about partying all night long. I have a definite impression we'll be at this for awhile :)

4:15am - Leo is still going strong with Lego Stars, Marc and I not so much. We are tired. Yikes, Leo wants me to play now but I don't think my eyeballs will allow it. OK, now he's agreed to make banana bread with me for our second breakfast in few hours. That will get us moving around and awake a bit more. Marc has decided he needs a shower now, he's hoping the water will help him.

4:55am - Chess lesson commencing. I can't imagine it lasting too long, neither boy has much mental clarity at this point but Leo is insistent. I just offered him some lemonade (to help perk him up) but he politely declined. I think I'll pour some anyway and just set it in front of him and maybe some water too.

5:04am - That's it, I'm making coffee now.

5:35am - I didn't give them enough credit, they finished the game. It is getting light outside, we're going to head outside to see if Juancho the cat is out and to take a walk around the block. Leo is insisting in walking in his pyjamas. Oh wait, I have to stay home and keep an eye on the banana bread. It is smelling good.

5:45am - it was a short walk. The lemonade had Leo doing the pee pee dance so he came back. No Juancho so no good reason to hold it I guess either. Buddy boy is begging for more Lego Star Ward video game, but I think Marc is sick of it. Sounds like they are negotiating another game choice.

6:00am - Little Einsteins episode. There was a meltdown when Marc couldn't bear playing video games for Leo's entertainment (I'm told that the big problem is that Leo doesn't want Marc to play the games he likes). I'm watching him like a hawk, no sleep allowed!!!

6:30am - Eating yummy, warm banana bread. More little Einsteins to come, he was very alert during the whole episode.

7:15 am - heading out the door!

10:35 - We are home and EXHAUSTED. Test went fine, it didn't show any abnormalities. The specialist will review it later this afternoon but the doctor told us not to worry, everything looks great. Going to bed...

Saturday, August 01, 2009

Copy of my facebook status from last night: Laurel is getting over one of the scariest experiences ever, Leo had a seizure early this morning and we spent all day in the ER getting tests run to figure out why. We have a few guesses but no real answer yet. He's feeling fine now. I'm not.

The long explanation is; Leo had an early morning seizure right beside me, in my bed. He seized for a short time, maybe 30-45 seconds and then was unresponsive until after we'd called 911 and taken an ambulance ride to the Children's Hospital. The seizure itself was horrible; his lips were blue, his eyes rolled up and the whites of his eyes were grey but the 20-30 minutes of unresponsiveness was worse. I can't explain with words the relief I felt when he "woke up", looked straight at me and said "Mama?"

We spent about 12 hours at the hospital because the seizure was not fever induced so we had to look for other possible explanations. Leo was a champ all day long. Every nurse and technician praised him (and me) for his bravery and great attitude - he had blood tests, an EEG, a CAT scan, and an EKG. The EEG showed some slowing in the frontal lobe and it was this result that warranted the CAT scan.

After all the tests were done a neurologist came down to examine Leo and ask me a million questions. Then a second neurologist (a head honcho type) joined us and he explained what he thought was going on and said that we'd need to do a sleep deprived EEG in the next couple of weeks to try to confirm his suspicions. Leo will also be scheduled for an MRI and that should round out his use of the medical system.

The doctors think that the seizure is a symptom of a syndrome associated with migraines (BECRS). It is benign and typically is outgrown by the age of 15. The chances are high that he'll never have another seizure but if he does have more there are meds that are very effective in treating them. Overall prognosis is great, now that we've seen inside Leo's head we know there are no lesions, or tumors or other frightening possibilities. We did however confirm the size of Leo's head, the neurologist measured it and immediately commented "he has big head." He then measured my head and said, no, it is not from you. Does his father have a big head? I had to call Marc and get him to measure his own head so we could compare. Turns out Leo doesn't have a genetic good reason for the size of his noggin and this is the reason for the upcoming MRI (I think).

So, Leo is acting perfectly fine and normal now. Marc and I are still a bit gun shy. We are staying home from camping at La Minerve with everyone which is a huge disappointment. Hopefully we'll figure out a way to camp and or at least have a campfire soon since the kids are both very disappointed. I'll be waiting for phone calls next week giving me the dates for the upcoming round of testing which means I don't even know if we are going to be able to go to Toronto at all. I'm bummed. I'm glad my boy is going to be fine but I don't like being afraid and I don't like being forced to stay in town during the time I'd intended for "vacation." I'm sure I'll feel differently in another day or two, we'll figure stuff out, we always do :)